Alaska lets candidates file for primaries very early. Already two candidates have paid the filing fee and completed the paperwork to be listed on the August 20, 2024 primary ballot for U.S. House. See them listed here on the Alaska Elections Division’s website.
One of the two early filers is Richard Grayson, whose ballot label will be “No Labels.” He is almost certainly the first candidate in any state who has already qualified to be on a 2024 ballot using that label. In Alaska, there are no party nominees, except presidential electors in the general election, so it would not be accurate to say that Grayson is the No Labels nominee. Grayson will not appear on the November 2024 ballot for U.S. House in Alaska unless he places in the top four in August.
I thought he was Arizona?
So one could say his name is Dick Grayson, or Robin?
He is in Arizona. The Ninth Circuit ruled in Schaefer v Townsend in 2000 that states cannot keep candidates off the ballot for Congress on the grounds that the candidate doesn’t live in that state. The US Constitution residency requirement for congress only applies to the candidate’s residence on election day. Theoretically Grayson might move to Alaska before the election, so he can’t be kept off the ballot. California tried to get the US Supreme Court to reverse that ruling, but the Supreme Court refused to hear California’s appeal.
Alaska permits voters to register with a political group, and permits candidates to have their voter registration appear on the ballot.
This creates ambiguity for non-resident candidates for Congress, since they can not register to vote in Alaska until they actually move.
In 2022, a resident of California was on the congressional ballot as a registrant with the American Independent Party, which is a political party in California, but not a political party or group in Alaska.
No Labels is not a political group in Alaska. It is a Limited Political Party, which is limited to making nominations for President.
If Grayson moves to Alaska he could not run as a No Labels registrant, unless the party registered as a political group.
Does No Labels have any control if anyone runs on their No Label label?
Perhaps they need to trademark their No Label label.
“The Ninth Circuit ruled in Schaefer v Townsend in 2000 that states cannot keep candidates off the ballot for Congress on the grounds that the candidate doesn’t live in that state”
Could this precedent apply in the Trump ballot access cases?
Could it be said that it has not been determined that Trump is ineligible to hold office?
HOW MUCH PERMA FROST IN AK LAND – ABOUT 0.1 INCH BELOW GROUND TOP ???
ANY OLDE 1959’S LEFT IN AK ???
@WZ,
The label is the candidate’s personal affiliation.
@WZ,
The Constitution says that a representative must be an inhabitant of the state “when elected”. This has been interpreted to be an instantaneous qualification. It can not be determined where Richard Grayson will be living November 2024.
The first representative that this applied to was living in Georgetown, DC, but was building a house in Maryland. It was newly plastered, and the lime-based plaster was toxic while it dried. His family was a long time prominent family in Maryland. Francis Scott Key was a relative.
After the vote to not expel him was completed, he made a personal privilege speech in which he explained that as a young man he had enlisted in the British Army, been captured, and paroled to England where he resided for the remainder of the Revolutionary War. After the War he returned to Maryland.
In his opinion, the challenge was based on his personal history, rather than where he resided when elected. It was a political rather than a legal issue.
“The Ninth Circuit ruled in Schaefer v Townsend in 2000 that states cannot keep candidates off the ballot for Congress on the grounds that the candidate doesn’t live in that state”
If we had a more active Congress that would overturn court rulings with constitutional amendments (see the 11th and 26th for examples), this ruling would be trash. You want to be in Congress from a certain state, you should live there 2 years. What’s the argument for not other than it allows mass carpetbagging?
@Ryan,
As a national legislative body, you would want legislators to be able to move freely throughout the country. If voters of a state don’t want to vote for a newcomer they can do so.
Walter, how would residence be a precedent in Trump cases?